i’ve watched a ty video comparing Mariusz Pudzianowski and Kyriakos Grizzly, and it was said that even tho Grizzly had way more pure muscle mass, his powerlifting scores were lower. How is it possible that with more muscle mass he didn’t lift more?
In: Biology
Think of your muscles as a factory that produces strength.
If you train for hypertrophy, you’ll build more and larger factories so you’ll be stronger. The more factories you have, the greater capacity you have for producing strength.
But each of these factories could be more efficient.
So if you trained for strength mainly, you would still build more factories, but make each more efficient. Like having forklifts inside instead of just hand trucks. Or coordination with all the factories so the deliveries all go out at the same time so they can be on the same truck.
Now, it’s important to note you can’t train for either exclusively. You can bias one or the other, but you’ll always gain some size and some strength. And many lifters go through phases or cycles where they target one over the other.
EDIT: Getting more into the details, strength, especially if it’s in something specific like benching is also a skill. Practicing benching more will make you better. Learning lifting “cues”. Getting the central nervous system (CNS) used to heavier weight, using a more optimal bar bath, etc. Tendons also take a much longer time to develop. Steroids don’t really affect them which is why it’s not uncommon to tear a muscle when using them because your muscles are more capable but your tendons still need a while to catch up.
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